St. Anne overwhelms Tri-Point on Senior Night

Saturday

Feb 9, 2013 at 1:51 AMFeb 9, 2013 at 1:57 AM

River Valley Conference basketball between host Tri-Point and St. Anne on Senior Night for the Chargers

Erich Murphy

What was supposed a memorable night for the seniors turned out to be something rather nightmarish. St. Anne played the rude guest in slapping an 81-41 loss on Tri-Point in a River Valley Conference boys’ basketball contest Friday night. The Chargers, playing their final home game of the season, honored last year players Jordan Tharp, Ryan DeFord, Zach Watts, Nathan Hoffman and Miah Woodworth before the game. The quintet also started. Actually, the start of the game was good for Tri-Point. The Chargers managed to control the opening tip and Tharp scored inside just seven seconds into the contest. That was the only time The Point led on this night, and it wasn’t for very long. St. Anne answered with a basket from Octavious Davis and a 3-pointer from T.J. Turner just 50 seconds after Tharp’s score to put the Cardinals ahead 5-2. The St. Anne baskets also started a 12-point surge that took less than two minutes to complete. “I thought we came out with a lot of energy and I thought we sustain that energy all night,” St. Anne head coach Rick Schoon said. Defense was the key for the Cardinals as they pressured the ball up and down the tiny confines of the TPHS gym. There was little room for the Chargers to operate while St. Anne was applying all sorts of pressure. This resulted in three steals and easy scores for the Cardinals in a 35-seconds span during the run. Davis had two of the steals and Turner had the other. St. Anne closed out the first quarter with an 11-0 run. The 29-8 margin had Tri-Point buried early. “They did exactly what good teams do. They did not let off the throttle,” TP head coach Justin Cox said. “They were trying to prove a point. We might face them again for a regional championship and they’re trying to prove a point that we shouldn’t be playing with them.” The Cardinals’ run grew to 15 points after they scored the first two baskets of the second period in taking a 33-8 lead. Not everything had a rosy look for the Cardinals. Things were getting a bit chippie throughout the first half. A lot of the growing heat had to do with rugged play as St. Anne pressured and crashed the boards. Tri-Point was also playing hard. The Chargers just weren’t scoring as easily as the Cardinals. Schoon was hit with a technical foul with 1:46 after he questioned a foul call against his team. The officials misplayed the situation by allowing the technical foul free throws to be taken first, and then the personal foul tosses were next. The Cardinals were then given possession of the ball that was supposed to stay with the Chargers. An intentional foul was called on Woodworth at the other end 22 seconds later when he collided with Turner and both hit the floor hard. Woodworth was called for the foul after the officials declared he threw Turner to the hardwood. St. Anne’s shooting was on target most of the first half. Getting steals and high percentage layups were only two aspects helping the shooting. The Cardinals were also hitting from the perimeter. They made four 3-pointers in the first quarter. “We’ve been doing a lot of shooting drills in practice and it’s been paying off,” Schoon said of his team’s shooting. “As long as we can knock shots down like that, we’re a pretty tough team to defend.” The Cardinals kept up the intensity in the third quarter and pushed their 49-22 halftime lead to 69-32 by the start of the fourth period. Tharp finished with a game-high 23 points for the Chargers. Hoffman added 6 and Timmy Crouch scored 3 points. DeFord, Watts, Josh Flessner and Woodworth had 2 points apiece and Zach Taylor netted 1 marker. Rickey Taylor had 15 points to lead four Cardinals in double figures. Jeff Taylor added 13 points while Turner and Avery Ellis scored 10 points apiece. SOPHOMORES: Tri-Point rallied from a 10-point in the fourth quarter to edge past St. Anne 65-62 in overtime in the preliminary game. Crouch had 27 points for the Chargers. Kyle Robinson added 15 and Jordan Hamilton tallied 11 points.

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